Juma Sultan

Juma Sultan (born April 13, 1942, in Monrovia, California). Juma is a musician who has been involved in music for over 50 years having endeavored to increase the understanding of music in the context of African and Afro-American cultures. He may be best known for his appearance at the Woodstock Festival of 1969 at Bethel Woods, playing with Jimi Hendrix. He currently plays in the African performance group Sankofa, the band Sons of Thunder, and with the Juma Sultan Band.

Sultan performed in 1969 at Woodstock in Hendrix’s band, Gypsy Sun and Rainbows and on the Dick Cavett show and at a special show in Harlem, New York several weeks later. He was interviewed extensively for the documentary films, Jimi Hendrix and Jimi Hendrix: Live at Woodstock. You can also find him on approximately 12 of Jimi Hendrix’ posthumous releases.

Juma Sultan’s musical talents span jazz, rock, blues and spirituals throughout decades of performing, producing and recording. In 2006, Clarkson University, in conjunction with Sultan, received a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts to preserve Sultan’s audio and video documentation of avant-garde jazz during the 1960s and 1970s. The collection may be viewed at www.jumasarchive.org.

Sultan appeared at the National Rock Con from July 30, 2010 – August 1, 2010.